


Money Doesn’t Grow On (Family) Trees

by Prettyinpiano



Series: Jamilton Office AU [12]
Category: Hamilton - Fandom
Genre: Alcholism, Angst, Drunkness, Fluff, Jamilton - Freeform, Jamilton office au, M/M, crying a lil, james Hamilton is Alexander hamilton’s Dad, madison And Laurens just wanted to be good best friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 02:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12644187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettyinpiano/pseuds/Prettyinpiano
Summary: Alexander’s dad jumps back into his life unexpectedly and suddenly.Alexander is estatic; Thomas is not.





	Money Doesn’t Grow On (Family) Trees

**Author's Note:**

> PRAY FOR ME THIS TOOK FOUR DAYS TO COMPLETE AND MY HANDS NOW HURT.
> 
> Also, a huge thanks to my sister for plot ideas in this!!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter of Sibling Surprise! Remember, y’all voted for this.

~Sunday~

“Sir, we can’t allow you up there for safety reason,” the secretary’s voice sounded sympathetic but with a hint of annoyance.

“Why not!? He’s my son, I’m not going to hurt anyone!” 

“If he’s your son, then just call him and ask him to come meet you. You should have his number-“ she was cut off.

“I am his father-“

Now highly annoyed, the secretary cut him off, “Sir I do not care what relations you have to him. You cannot go up unless he comes and gets you. Can I see some ID please? I need to make a note of this incident-“

“Hell no!”

Thomas had had enough of hearing the secretary struggle with this unknown man- he couldn’t tell who he was through the blurry glass wall- but he knew he had to say something.

He rounded the little wall that separated the secretary’s desk and the copying machines. The secretary glanced up and noticed him, relief flooding her face. “Ah, Mr. Jefferson!”

“Is there a problem?”

“There sure is. I want to go up and surprise my son, but this little-“ the man moved closer to talk to Thomas.

“If your next word is a derogatory remark about her,” Thomas gestured to the secretary, “then I’ll escort you out of the building myself. Now, who’s your son?”

The man glared but crossed his arms, “I’m James Hamilton, and my son is Alexander Hamilton,” he answered smugly.

Thomas snorted; Alex’s dad wasn’t in his life and hadn’t been for a long time.

“Why are you snorting? I’m being serious, call him down here. He’ll recognize me-“

“After what, these 20 years you’ve abandoned him?” Thomas crossed his arms and when the face of shock and anger crossed the stranger’s face, Thomas felt a gut feeling of pain; This was Alexander’s dad. He could see the face that everybody makes when their mistakes are pointed out.

“How do you know about that-“

“Uhm sir,” the secretary spoke up, “Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jefferson are dating, and have been for a while.” 

The man looked Thomas up and down before narrowing his eyes, “he could’ve done better. His tastes have always been off-“

“Excuse me?” Thomas matched the man’s expression before the guy cut him off.

“You’re excused, now call my son down here. Or would you like to be the one to tell him you sent his father away when he wanted to see him? He was always the loyal child.” 

Thomas gritted his teeth and the secretary watched him to see what he would do. He reluctantly pulled out his cell phone, scrolling through the contacts before landing on Alex’s, and then hitting the call button.

It took a few rings before Alex answered the phone, “Thomas this better be good; I just excused myself from a meeting for this-“

“Come down to the lobby.” 

“Huh? Why? Thomas I told you I have a board meeting now-“

“Just do it Alexander.” The full first name let Alex know he wasn’t playing around. 

“Alright, alright. I’m heading down there now,” and they hung up.

Thomas leaned against the glass wall and watched the elevators; there was silence between the three. He didn’t know how Alex would take it: he’d never directly talked great about his dad, but besides the facts, he also never talked down his father.

When Alex rounded out of the elevator his concerned face met with Thomas’s annoyed and his eyebrows furrowed further, “what’s up-“ he opened his mouth in shock when his gaze landed on his father. “...dad?”

“I’m back son,” the man smiled a little and offered his arms out for what it was worth. Alex sprang forward and hugged him back. 

Thomas mentally groaned; so Alex didn’t hate him, but Thomas did. The way he treated everyone but his son wasn’t adding up, and there’s something more to the story.

“Alex, we have so much to catch up on. Why don’t I take you and your boyfriend Thoma-“ 

“Jefferson will be fine,” Thomas corrected before flashing a fake smile. Alex turned around and raised an eyebrow at Thomas, but his father kept talking anyway. 

“Okay, why don’t I treat you and Jefferson to a lunch so we can all get caught up?” He smiled.

“Sounds great! Thomas?” He turned around, hope flashing across his face as he asked Thomas for his answer.

He could easily get out of it; lie about some meeting with Washington and then plead with the boss to agree to lie about the meeting as well. He could always say he had something due for Angelica; that women never left you alone until you got the job done. He could easily say he already promised lunch to Madison, as Alex knew Thomas will always keep a promise to someone. He could also say he had to skype his siblings in an half an hour because their relationship had been repaired and were talking, texting, and Skyping one another like crazy again.

So yes, Thomas could’ve easily lied and mangled his way out of a lunch. But one look at Alex’s face and he knew he wouldn’t be able to lie. His face was so beyond excited and hopeful. 

Alex reached forward and grabbed Thomas’s hand, raising an eyebrow, “Thomas? You there?” He snapped a finger near Thomas’s face to gain his attention again.

“Yeah, yeah, sounds alright.”

——

They ended up going to Sally’s and were seating down at a booth; Alex and Thomas on one side and Alex’s dad on the other.

“So, what have you been up to after all these years dad?” Alex asked as Thomas glanced off and fiddled with the straw of his drink. They’d order two medium sized pizzas and were waiting on said order.

“Jumping from place to place, the usual. Picking up random jobs here and there. I actually got back in contact with your brother about three back, and he’s actually inspired me to get in contact with you.” James smiled.

“JJ? How’s he been-“

“I thought your brother’s name was James too?” Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing at Alex.

“Yeah, James Jr. we called him JJ as kids to not get him and dad confused.” Alex answered before turning back to his dad.

“He’s been doing fine. He’s engaged and has a baby on the way actually,” his dad answered, “how have you been lately? Obviously well, as it didn’t take long to find you. All I had to do was type in Alexander Hamilton and articles about the company popped up.” 

“Actually I’ve been doing pretty well dad,” He smiled and started to fiddle with his silverware, “I actually have a seven year old son, Philip.” 

“Oh really? Tell me about him,” his dad leaned forward on his palms. 

“Well, he’s very adventurous and sassy and brave- hey I’ll show you a photo of him!” He pulled out his phone and turn it on so you could see the screensaver; it was Philip and Thomas at the same café that Eliza had sent him.

“Oh he’s adorable, is he-“ he looked up and between Alex and Thomas, “is he adopted?”

“What?” Alex caught on before shaking his head, “oh no, he’s not related to Thomas. He’s from my first marriage,” 

“You were married?”

“Yeah, to a woman named Eliza Schuyler. Here, let me pull up a photo of her-“ he scrolled through his phone before finding a photo of him, Eliza, and Philip, “she’s the woman in the photo. Our marriage ended on good terms though.”

His dad examined the photo, “she looks like a real keeper, son. Sorry your marriage ended. She reminds me of your mother; sweet, soft, kind.” He threw a glance at Thomas, “you should’ve kept her around.”

Thomas narrowed his eyes, practically glaring at the older man to say something.

Alex looked up and between his dad and Thomas, about to speak up for Thomas when Sally walked over and placed the two pizza’s on the table.

“Here we go, one cheese and one Hawaiian,” she smiled down at them, “enjoy you three,” she walked off.

“Good, I am just starving!” His dad exclaimed before digging in, Alex and Thomas following suit.  
——

“I just go up to pay, right?” Alex’s dad asked to which Thomas and Alex both nod.

He stood up and started patting his pockets down, his pats becoming more and more hectic.

“Dad?” Alex called.

“I’m so sorry, i must’ve forgot my wallet in the car- I can go grab it from down the road,” he turned towards the door until Alex started pulling out his wallet.

“No no no dad, it’s fine. I can grab it-“ 

“Really son? You’re a lifesaver,” he smiled, taking a seat again.

Thomas groaned but pushed Alex’s wallet down, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll grab it. Put your wallet up,” he said as he stood up and started walking to the cash register before Alex could protest.

He walked up to the cash register Sally was working, “hey there Thomas, you paying for it today?”

“Yeah yeah,” he leaned across the counter and handed her his card.

“Meeting the family is that tough, huh?” Sally joked to try to get his mood to lighten up as she swiped his card.

Thomas grunted and ran a hand through his hair, “I just get bad vibes from the guy, and he really doesn’t like me.”

“I’m sorry to hear that; maybe he’s just being protective of his son?” Sally offered the idea as she handed the receipt to him to fill out.

He signed his signature “T. Jefferson” in cursive and filled out the tip before handing it back to her, “I hope so, for Alex’s sake, I do want to try to get along with his father. I’ll see you later Sally, thanks for the great food as always.”

“See you around Thomas,” she smiled back as she beckoned forth the next customer.

He walked back to the table, “I paid. Let’s go,” he said, nodding to the exit. The other two joined him and they left.

They walked out into the warm afternoon, walking along the shaded sidewalk. Alex reached over and took Thomas’s hand in his before his dad glanced over.

“So how did you two meet each other?” James asked, shoving his hands into his jean pockets.

“Work. We’re both department heads at the company so we often have to communicate, not to mention board meetings-“ Alex began rambling when his dad chuckled.

“So what do the both of you do? Department heads? Sounds important,” James mentioned as the their office building came into sight in the distance.

“I’m head of public relations and Alex is head of financial,” Thomas said, offering the little bit of information so it didn’t seem like he wasn’t paying attention.

“Financial is easy to figure out, but what in the world is public relations?” His dad asked, a smug little smile growing as he met eye contact with Thomas.

“I make sure that the image of the company isn’t a bad one in the public’s eye. If another company comes out and bashes us in the media, I’m the one who deals with it. I also make sure that if our name is mentioned by anyone, it’s for a good reason.” Thomas explained before Alex jumped in.

“It’s actually a pretty important job. He also gets us financial alliances with other companies, and forming bonds and trade marketing and such,” Alex smiled, “it’s impressive, right?”

“Seems so,” James nodded before letting a fake face of concern show, “you know, dating a co-worker is tricky. You two will need to be able to distinguish a work relationship and a personal relationship.”

Alex squeezed Thomas’s hand, “I think we’re doing fine. We’re both successful and happy.” He smiled before he glanced forward and saw the office building, “why don’t we all head to my apartment? You can spend the night there so you don’t have to book a hotel room,” 

James smiled softly, “sounds good, I’ll just follow you in my car-“ he glanced out into the street parking before gasping, “which is about to be written a ticket.”

His dad rushed across the crosswalk, with Alex dragging Thomas along, to a tiny red car with a cop to the side.

“You didn’t pay the meter sir, it’s a $75 fine you’ll have to settle at city hall,” the cop explained, “or you’ll have to pay $100 right now to avoid the trip to the city hall.”

His dad scoffed, “What do you mean? Of course I paid the meter-“

“Sir, I can see when and how much these meters are paid. The last time was at 12:37 last night, which I’m assuming isn’t you.” The cop sighed and tore off the ticket.

James groaned, “looks like I’ll be taking a trip to city-hall. Sorry that’ll take a chunk out of our afternoon you two-“

Alex already pulled his wallet out, “it’s fine, dad, I’ll cover the $100,” He pulled out five $20s and handed them over to the cop; the cop had James sign the ticket and then left, wishing them a good afternoon.

“Thank you, you’re too kind to your old man,” James smiled as he unlocked his car, “I’ll pay you back son.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

——

They walked into Alex’s apartment, Thomas groaning. He should’ve gone back to work but the gut feeling in his stomach wasn’t going to go away until he talked with Alex alone.

Alex showed him around the house, before offering his dad his personal bedroom and saying he would sleep on the pullout couch he had. His dad agreed and said he was going to go settle down in the bedroom. Thomas saw his chance.

He pulled Alex in the kitchen, which unlike his own, was completely closed off besides one doorway and one window overseeing the living room. “Can we talk for a moment?”

“Sure,” he smiled as he leaned against a counter, “today’s been random, but greatly appreciated. What’s up?”

Thomas sighed and sat down in a chair that circled the kitchen table. “Listen Alex, today is what I wanted to speak with you about.” He paused, trying to put the words in a sentence that wouldn’t come out so harshly.

“Well, come on with it Thomas. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think your dad is here for the right reasons.” He said quietly, “I think he’s here to try to mooch money off of you.”

“Excuse me?” Alex asked, offense and anger spread across his face; it was one of Alex’s rules to always take up for his family.

“Just think about it. He invites us to lunch and then I end up paying. He didn’t pay his parking meter and guilts you into paying $100-“

“If paying for us was an issue Thomas, you certainly didn’t have to.” Alex said, his tone was laced with anger and he crossed his arms.

“When did you two become an us?” He sighed and shook his head, “You know money is never an issue for me, Alex! I just don’t like people taking advantage of you-“ Thomas stood up and moved closer to Alex.

“Nobody is taking advantage of anyone! He’s just had some bad luck since he got here-“

Thomas grabbed Alex’s arms, “how far are you going to let him push that bad luck until he’s just straight up asking for money from you!?” He shook Alex a little bit, “quit being so dense Alex! He may be family to you, but that doesn’t mean his intentions are good-“ 

Alex shoved Thomas away from him, anger heating up in him, “you know Thomas, you have no right to be saying this about him. You’ve known him for what, two hours maybe?”

“And how well do you really know the man?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms, “he abandoned you Alex, don’t treat him like he’s a saint for coming back after 20 years. The only thing that’s changed between you then and you now is that you’re successful, in the media, and his mooching habits are taking over-“

“So you want me to just kick him out? Is that your solution?” Alex glared and took a step closer, “you’re more like your father than you thought.” He took a breath and turned away from Thomas, “unlike you, I’m not going to just exile my dad because of one mistake he made.”

Thomas froze, hurt sinking through his gut. It felt like he couldn’t breath but his heart started beating faster and louder, like it was overcompensating to the lungs to apologize for the lack of air. His expression matched a puppy’s expression when they’re kicked away. 

He could feel his anger mellow away and he took a step back. “I...” he didn’t know what to say to that. “Is that, is that how you truly feel?”

Alex turned around and raised his eyebrow before his expression turned apologetic, “Thomas, wait-“

“No.” Thomas said, hurt still splayed across his features, “you’ve said enough.” He pushed past Alex and out of the kitchen doorway, stopping and glancing for a brief second down the hallway.

James stood there, confusion and amusement evident on his face. “Are you on your way out, Mr. Jefferson?”

Thomas didn’t respond, couldn’t respond. He simply continued his way out of the apartment and to his car.

“Thomas-“ Alex went to go after him but his dad stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

“Let him cool off son. Going after him now is only going to cause another argument.”

Alex felt the guilt pool in his gut; what the heck did he do?

——-

“Laf, I really don’t want to be on toilet duty!” John Laurens complained, leaning against the bar where Herc sat.

“It’s Sunday, we have to get this place in tip-top shape to open tomorrow night.” Laf smiled, “I did the toilets last week. If you don’t want to do them, try your best to convince Herc.” 

Herc shook his head, “sorry, I’m not an owner here.”

Laurens groaned, “you’re dating one of them-“

“Don’t use our relationship to your benefit!” Lafayette laughed as he polished some glasses, “just accept your duties-“ he was cut off by his phone ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the collar ID: southern cowboy yeehaw.

He laughed as he remembered the inside joke before answering the phone, “what’s up Thomas, lovely speaking with you today?”

“How much am I going to have to pay you to give me shots of whiskey?” 

Laf raised an eyebrow and turned around to the lean against the bar, “it’s Sunday Thomas, we don’t even open on Sundays.”

“I know, but consider this a friend thing not a customer thing. I’ll pay extra-“ he sounded almost desperate, “my usual bar doesn’t open until nine tonight and I don’t have anything good at home. It’s Sunday so the stores won’t be-“

“Okay, Okay, come on over. I’ll fix you some shots. Herc and Laurens are here too though-“

“That’s fine. You’re a god-sent.” He hung up the call.

Laf glanced around and was met with equally confused faces. 

“What was that about?” Herc asked, shifting to rest his hand in one of his palms.

“Apparently Thomas is having a pretty rough day and asked for me to make him some whiskey shots.” Laf shrugged, slipping his phone back in his pocket.

“Day-drinking isn’t a good sign. Think he’ll spill what happened?” John asked, leaning forward from his seat at the bar.

“No. If sober Thomas is stubborn, drunk Thomas is even worse.” Laf laughed a little, “I got him drunk one time to try to get him to spill his crush in France when we were studying abroad together. It was waaaay worse than trying to get sober Thomas to spill.”

——

Herc glanced at the clock: 6 pm. The sun was starting to set and Thomas was on his 12th shot over the past three hours. 

The three sober guys tried their best to comfort Thomas; when he first showed up, he was sad. But the more he drank, the more bitterness hinted it’s way into his tone.

After he took his 13th shot, Herc reached out and took the shot glass away. “I think you’ve had enough Thomas. No more, alright?”

He nodded slowly, before running a hand through his hair. “I should go home. I’ve been a pest to y’aaall.”

“Not true, I’m always glad to lend you a hand,” Laf smiled as he took the shot glass; although he smiled, you could see the concern leaking into it. Besides Thomas, who couldn’t see it because he was drunk out of his mind.

“Need us to call you an Uber?” John asked, pulling out his phone and unlocking it.

“Ubeerrr to where?” Thomas’s words slurred, “you seeee, dearies, I forgot my ad-address.” He hiccuped in the end of his sentence.

“You....forgot?” Herc asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning forward.

“Yeeeeeah....I’m reeaaalll sorry.”

John sighed, “it’s fine, I can just call Alex and ask-“

“No!” Thomas was out of his barstool and towering over Laurens simply because of his height, “Don’t you dare call him!”

If they hadn’t seen and spent the last three hours with Thomas getting drunk, they would’ve thought he was stone-cold sober.

“Thomas?” Herc asked as he stood up and went near him before gently pulling him towards sitting back down, “we wont call him, okay? Just sit down and-“

“I’ll text Madison for your address, alright?” Laf reasoned, pulling out his own phone and starting to type a message.

“Thomas, why don’t you want us to call Alex?” John asked, leaning forward.

“Wanted to win an a-argument between us,” he ran a hand through his hair, “made some nasty lit-little comment about my dad-“

“Oh no,” Laf breathed in quietly; out of the three sober men there, only Laf knew about his father and their situation. He also knew why Alex should’ve never made a comment about that.

John got the hint that it was a big no-no, and wanted to change the topic. Even the drunk man was getting uncomfortable. “Hey Laf, did Madison ever respond?”

“Not yet,” Laf replied as he pulled out his phone and checked the latest notifications. Madison hadn’t even read his text. 

John nodded before standing up, “I’m gonna head up to the apartment to go use the restroom.” 

He quickly ran up the stairs and sat down on the living room couch; he pulled out his phone and dialed Alex’s number. It took three rings before he actually picked up.

“Hey John, what’s up?” Alex’s voice lacked the usual happiness it held whenever his best would call him before.

“Soooo,” John paused for a moment, “something happened between you and Jefferson?”

Alex gasped a little before speaking, “how do you know about that?”

“Don’t worry, I don’t know exactly what happened. He just called Laf asking for shots and ended up getting pretty drunk,” John nervously laughed, “but he’s forgotten his address, and Madison isn’t responding to Laf’s texts.” 

“Damn it.” 

“Yeah, you got him pretty bad,” John said quietly, “what did you do?”

It was quiet for a moment before Alex spoke, “I was an idiot and wanted to win an argument so I said something that really hurt him. Something I had no right to comment on,”

“It must’ve been pretty bad if even Alexander Hamilton can admit he’s wrong-“

“I told you not to call him.”

John jumped in his seat before whipping around and lowering his phone from his ear, “haha, Thomas-“

“I told you!” He walked in and grabbed his keys off of the coffee table, “the one, onee thing I as-asked you not to do! And youdoit!” He slurred his words as he started to storm out of the room.

“Thomas!” John said as he sprang up off the couch and followed Thomas down the stairs that connected the apartment and the bar.

“No! I’ll just drive myselfhome,” His words slurred as he stormed past a confused and shocked Herc and Laf.

“Woah woah woah,” Herc said as he jumped up and stopped Thomas by the arm, “calm down, you can’t drive yourself home in this state-“

“I don’t care! Y’allll didn’t care about the on-one thing I asked y’all not to dooo,” he stumbled as he jerked his arm away from Herc.

Laf threw a concerned look at John before going to help Herc calm Thomas.

“I’m an adult! You can’t st-top me from leaving!” Thomas started making a beeline for the door before Herc got in front of him and blocked the door while John watched in horror.

“John!” He heard the voice from his phone before snapping out of it and answering it. 

“Sorry, I-“

“Is Thomas okay? Do I need to come grab him?” Alex answered, concern seeping through each word.

“No.” John answered quietly, “I think it’d be better if you stayed at your place.” 

——  
~Monday Morning~

Madison groaned as he hung up the phone with Washington; he’d gotten both him and Jefferson out of work for the day.

He was currently in the corner-store near Thomas’s apartment picking up things for Thomas’s hangover; Tylenol, water, Gatorade, and Powerade.

As he checked out he reflected on last night’s events: he apologetically picked up Thomas from Laf’s bar, got the story of why he was upset from a sobbing, drunk Thomas, before getting him to bed. 

He walked through the cool morning back to the apartment; it might’ve been summer but the early mornings were always cool. 

As he walked up the stairs with the plastic bag, he ran into a figure knocking on Thomas’s door.

“You know Hamilton, he probably won’t hear that knocking. His hangover is gonna be horrible,” he glared before pushing past Alex’s figure to the door, “not that you’d care or anything.”

“Don’t do that Madison,” Alex groaned, “I know I messed up, I know I’m an idiot. But I need to talk with him-“ he held up a box, “and, I also brought donuts.”

Madison frowned, unimpressed. Before sighing and going to unlock the door, “before you get any ideas, I’m not doing this for you or for me. I’m doing this for Thomas because I know he’d want me to.”

He lead Alex into the kitchen area before dumping all the supplies out and sorting them; he grabbed the Gatorade and Tylenol before putting the water and Powerade in the fridge. “Listen, he isn’t awake yet so it’d be best if I went in there and woke him up before telling him you’re here. Okay?”

“Okay.” Alex said as they both went to Thomas’s bedroom at the end of the hallway but only Madison entered the room.

He shook Thomas three times before Thomas groaned and woke up.

“Rise and shine sleeping beauty. You’re officially in a hangover,” Madison sarcastically remarked before placing Gatorade and the Tylenol bottle in his hands. 

“I feel like death.” He mumbled as he took the pills. 

“Just be glad you had extra hours stocked up, otherwise you would’ve had to go into work today.” Madison spoke before walking over and beginning to tame Thomas’s hair into a ponytail.

“I completely forgot about work today, I just...drank.” Thomas frowned as he continued sipping the Gatorade slowly.

“Yeah, I think I got that,” he rolled his eyes as he gently smoothed out the ponytail and tied it off.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas said quietly.

“I’m not the one you should be sorry for,” Madison sat on the edge of the bed, “you caused quite a stir for Lafayette and them, mr. I’ll just drive myself home although I’m completely drunk and have no idea where my home is.” 

Thomas flinched a little at his harsh words, “you’re right. But I’m still sorry to you because you always deal with me.”

“Don’t apologize for that, that’s what best friends are for.” Madison paused for a moment, “how are you feeling?”

“Physically or Emotionally?” 

“Both.”

Thomas sighed, “I’m not drunk anymore, so I sadly don’t have the mellowed happiness that follows it.” He ran a hand over his face, “but now the hurt is back.”

“I know, you told me what happened last night.” Madison watched his friend, sympathy in his eyes, “you’ll have to talk to him eventually, you do know that, right?”

“I don’t even know what to say to him-“

“You might want to figure out sooner rather than later,” he paused as Thomas glanced up to meet his gaze, “because you have a visitor who just so happened to bring donuts.”

Thomas groaned and shook his head as James stood up, “why would you not warn me? I look like crap-“

“Honey, a shower couldn’t even fix the dark circles under your eyes.” Madison said as he walked towards the door, catching Alex’s gaze as he almost walked completely into the hallway, “but I really don’t think Hamilton will mind, considering he’s part of the reason they’re there.” 

Madison brushed by Hamilton in the hallway, shoving him forward slightly.

Alex walked into the room, guilt pooling in his gut. Thomas was avoiding his gaze, looking everywhere else but him. He went to sit on the edge of the bed quietly; no idea how to make this better.

“Thomas, just listen to me. You don’t have to speak, just listen.” Alex took a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I never, never should’ve used something like that against you, to hurt you. I wanted to go after you but I wanted you to have time to calm down. But then John called me, and oh my god I wanted to be by your side although I was the entire reason you were hurt.”

Thomas moved his gaze to watch Alex speak, “and I’m so, so sorry Thomas. I wanted to be right in the argument that I didn’t even realize it was just you being concerned for me.”

“Alex-“

“Thomas, no, I hurt you and I’m sorry and you have no obligation to forgive-“

“But I do,” Thomas said quietly as he reached out and took Alex’s hand, “I won’t lie. It hurt, in fact it still kinda stings.” He shook his head, “but you can’t go back in time and un-say it.” He leaned over and pecked his cheek. “We’ll move on, and be alright.” The hurt still pulsed through him, but the want for Alex to be back in his life was stronger.

Alex nodded and hugged him back. They sat in awkward silence before Madison walked in and announced he was leaving to catch an afternoon meeting at work. 

“We should head back to my place.” Alex said, finally separating him and Thomas, and glancing up to meet Thomas’s gaze.

“Yeah, yeah. Let me go shower first.”

 

An hour and a half later they were entering Alex’s apartment again; Alex calling to his dad that they were back.

“Alexander, come in here for a second.” 

They both followed the sound of the voice into the living room, where his father sat while flipping through a photo album. James held up a photo, “when you said you married Eliza Schuyler, I didn’t think you meant Elizabeth Schuyler!” 

They moved closer and examined the photo; it was from Alex’s and Eliza’s wedding day. It featured the three Schuyler sisters and their father, Philip Schuyler.

“And what does that change?” Alex asked, leaning against the back of the couch.

“You married and divorced her, right? Surely you got some kind of payment from her?” James raised an eyebrow, “you’re the father of her kid! Do you know what I- we could do with a little bit of that money?” 

Thomas felt Alex clinch his fists, “oh really? Like what?”

“We could pay to bring your brother and his family to the United States from Nevis, or build a memorial to your mother-“

“You’re really trying to mooch off of him, eh?” Thomas asked, crossing his arms, and glancing down at Alex’s expressions.

James stood up, “Excuse me?”

“You’ve been trying to mooch off of him the whole time you’ve been here!” Thomas exclaimed, uncrossing his arms so he could walk closer to the older man.

“I’ve done nothing of the sorts-“ the man tried to argue. “But I’ve done my research on the Jefferson family, and woo boy, talk about me trying to mooch money. Every generation in your family married for money!” 

Thomas narrowed his eyes about to say something before Alex spoke up, “don’t bring Thomas and his family into your dirty habits.” He shook his head, “I was too blind to see through it until now. Get out of my house, and don’t come back.” 

“But son-“

“Don’t son me. A father who cared would care about his son, not his son’s money.” He responded coldly before glancing off to the side, “now get out of my house.”

Thomas shot him a glare as James went to his bedroom, packed his things, and then left through the front door only grumbling a mere goodbye.

“Good riddance.” Alex mumbled under his breath after his dad shut the door before he dropped on the couch; Thomas followed suit to sit by him.

Alex looked pained and it hurt Thomas; he wrapped an arm around Alex and just held him.

“I should’ve listen to you.” Alex said finally, bitterness creeping into his voice.

“It’s alright, it’ll get better.” Thomas said as Alex forced him into a tough hug, shaking from anger but refusing to shed a tear.

“I should bash him in an open letter-“

“Don’t, that’ll only make him concerned about how much fame he’ll gain. Leave him be; that’ll bother him much more.” Thomas said gently as he tightened his grip on Alex.

“You’re right.”

“I do tend to be.”

Thomas smiled as Alex chuckled a little into his shoulder, before hugging him just a tad tighter.

“Don’t get used to it,” Alex grinned, “I’ll be back to knock you off your game soon.”

“We’ll see about that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y’all enjoyed!!


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